A Meeting of Old Friends
by Konzert
Summary: The unremarkable event of two old friends meeting again, by chance, in a small supermarket. KK


AN: So I was just cleaning out my room, lots of junk sitting around under my bed and all. I found an old notebook with a whole bunch of half written and finished stories in it, so I figured I would post them here and see what kind of response I get. Nothing great, just some rough oneshots mostly. Here's the first of the lot, it's short, the title's nothing great and the editing is iffy. A couple more should follow in the near future when I get the motivation to type them all up.

A Meeting of Old Friends

By Konzert

Kaoru stood on tiptoes, reaching for the last box of Wheat Thins. It was pushed all the way to the back of the shelf and her fingers could just brush against it. She strained a slight bit, but with her short stature, it was still just eluding her grasp. She made a final effort, jumping slightly, knowing that she probably looked ridiculous, especially when her momentum caused her to rock backwards and stumble backwards only to land in an undignified pile.

Oo0oO

Kenshin had watched with amusement from the end of the aisle as a short woman strained for something. Apparently she was having a difficult time reaching it, even on her tiptoes. He smiled slightly and continued down the aisle to move past her, unaware of the impending danger.

Oo0oO

A crash resounded throughout the small supermarket. Heads turned and necks craned as people paused to catch a glimpse of what had happened. One startled customer watched a can of chicken noodle soup roll along the ground, out from the next aisle over. An employee or two peeked around the corner to ascertain that nothing drastic had occurred before turning away to continue on with their tasks.

In the aisle itself, two people were on their knees recovering from their collision, or rather Kaoru's unintended disaster. 'This is what happens when you're not paying attention to anything but a freakin' box of Wheat Thins that you really didn't need.' Kaoru chastised herself mentally.

'I definitely did not see that coming.' Were Kenshin's thoughts.

Two pairs of eyes looked. When blue eyes met the violet of her unfortunate victim, both pairs widened.

Oo0oO

"Owwwww!" Howled a small girl. Her blue eyes welled up with tears as she reacted, first to her fall and only after that, the stinging that assaulted her knee. Her eyes turned to the thing that had knocked her over. She stopped sniffling when she noticed a little boy biting his lip and bearing a similar scrape on his knee. He looked up at her.

"Are you ok?" He asked in a wobbly voice when he saw the tear marks on her cheeks. She nodded mutely as she wiped her face with her grubby hands. If he wasn't going to cry than neither was she! He got to his feet and then held out both of his hands to her. She took them and he pulled her up. They examined each other warily, as young children often do when deciding if the person in front of them is worth their interest.

Finally, "You look like the Barbie doll my Auntie gave me. It has orangey hair as long as yours." In the matter-of-fact way some kids have, she went on. "I don't play with Barbies though. They're boring. I like dirt and worms! I also like climbing trees better." The boy paused a moment before answering. "I like climbing trees too." With that exchange the two had become friends.

"My name's Kenshin." The boy said to her.

"Keni." The little girl said with finality. "I'm Kaoru."

Oo0oO

"Kenshin." The word escaped the woman's lips at the same time he said, "Kaoru."

Oo0oO

"Mommy! This is Keni! Can he come over and play after school today?" Kaoru yelled as she ran up to her mother, tugging Kenshin behind her.

"Oh, I don't know, honey. I'd have to talk to his mother." Mrs. Kamiya patted Kaoru's head. "Hello!" She bent down to speak to Kenshin. "Would you like to come over and play with Kaoru after your class today?" She asked him the question, knowing that her headstrong daughter had most likely not given the poor boy any choice in the matter. He nodded enthusiastically though, and pointed out a slight woman, with hair a shade lighter than his own. Kaoru's mother stood up and went to go speak with her.

"Yay!" Kaoru cheered and bounced up and down on her toes. "I can show you Froggy. He lives in our pond. I have a big pond in my backyard and Turtle lives there too. Look what he did to my finger." She held up a band aid with Ninja Turtles on it. She grimaced down at the flowery one that covered her knee.

"Are you ready for class you two?" Mrs. Kamiya stood over them with Kenshin's mother at her side.

"Can he come? Can he come?" Kaoru asked, bobbing up and down once again while Kenshin looked at his mother hopefully.

"Yes, yes. Kenshin can come over this afternoon. Now be good today and don't get anymore scrapes because I only have flower band aids left." Mrs. Kamiya warned her.

Oo0oO

"Oh my gosh…Kenshin!" Kaoru, a much more grown up Kaoru compared to the pint-size runt she had once been, said. "I can't believe…I mean, wow." That seemed to be the only thing she could manage at the moment. Kenshin smiled at her.

"Funny how hard it is to think of something to say to someone you haven't seen in so many years."

"Yes." She laughed. "I was quite articulate just now, wasn't I?"

"Maybe we should clean up first." He said, glancing at their combined disaster. "We tend to have messy meetings."

She smiled. "Good idea."

Oo0oO

"You look very handsome today, Kenshin." Mrs. Kamiya said when she opened the front door.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kamiya."

"All set for your first day of fifth grade?" He nodded. "I'll call Kaoru down for you. Come on in." Kenshin stepped inside the door as Mrs. Kamiya went to the bottom of the stairs and called up to her daughter.

A few minutes later Kaoru appeared. She was wearing a nicely ironed, button up shirt tucked into a crisply pleated skirt with dainty white socks and shiny, new, black shoes. Her hair was down and held back with two barrettes. She did not look happy.

"Oh! You look lovely!" He mother exclaimed. "Be careful walking to school and have a great first day!" She said as she walked them out to the sidewalk.

As soon as they were around the corner and out of sight of her mother, Kaoru tugged the barrettes out of her hair and pulled it back into her usual ponytail. She unbuttoned her cuffs and rolled her sleeves up and untucked the shirt from her skirt. "Remind me to fix that before school is over." She told Kenshin, even though they both knew they wouldn't remember and that she would be scolded for it later.

"Sure." He shrugged and answered anyway.

Oo0oO

"So what's going on?" Kaoru asked as they stood in the check out line together.

"My parents moved back here last year. I'm here for a week, for Christmas." Kenshin told her, then gestured to his basket of food. "They forced me out of the house to go get the groceries. Figures, the second I'm back they put me to work."

"I never knew. My Mom never told me that your parents moved back here. Being away at college, I have to rely on her for all the town news, but she leaves out all the important stuff and usually only tells me the gossip." Kaoru smiled.

Oo0oO

"Where are you going?" Kaoru was close to tears. She and Kenshin were sitting together on her front porch.

"I don't know where. My parents just told me yesterday, but we're leaving soon." He told her.

"But I don't want you to go. It's not fair!" Kaura was really crying now. She leaned forward and buried her face in his shoulder when he opened his arms to her. They sat there for a long time.

"I don't want to go away. But it won't be so bad, I'll call you and write you letters. We can be pen pals." He whispered to her, trying to cheer her up. "It could even be fun."

"No it won't. It's not the same."

Oo0oO

"You'll have to come over sometime so we can catch up more." Kaoru said. They were standing by her car. "You and your parents should come to the New Year's Eve party. You remember, the one we have every year? It would be fun." She paused, "I don't mean to put you on the spot or anything though, if you guys already have plans." He shook his head.

"It's fine, I'll definitely mention it to my parents. I'm sure that they would love to go." He dug out a pen and scribbled on the back of his receipt. "This is my number, call me when you're free."

"Okay!" She took the slightly crumpled paper. "Well I'll talk to you later on then." They both smiled at each other and locked eyes. This time, they wouldn't lose each other.

Oo0oO

So, that's that. Any kind of feedback is definitely welcome, or if not, then I hope you enjoyed the read.

Konzert


End file.
